Musical Distractions
by WishUponAStarryNight
Summary: The Marauders and Lily are back for their sixth year at Hogwarts, and this time they are joined by a new companion, the lively Ariane Johnson, who just happens to be a Wizarding-world renown piano prodigy. Has Sirius finally met his match? A little JP/LE.
1. Overture of Ariane

Hey! So this is my new fanfic-obviously(: I really like how it's going right now and I hope you do too!

Disclaimer: We'd all love to be JKR. Unfortunately there is only one.

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She stared critically into the floor-length silver mirror, brow furrowed in concentration. A girl with raven hair and chocolate-colored eyes that contrasted hugely with her pale skin stared defiantly back, with a hint of a mysteriously cocked eyebrow. With a look up and down, she deemed herself ready. Now it was time to face the world. She chuckled. She only hoped that they were ready for her, and vice versa. With a pleased smile, she bounced out her spacious room, ignoring the loud protests of the woman wearing a professional suit waiting outside her door as she hopped on the polished wood banister and slid down. Her long elegant ponytail flying behind her, she landed nimbly on the marble floor and laughed with glee. Her tinkling laugh echoed, rebounding back and forth from the high ceiling.

An ornate chandelier hung at dead center, embellished with delicate flowers and leaves. The golden light fell onto a breathtaking sight: a grand piano, at least 10 foot long, and in the classic black and white color. It glistened majestically in the light as the girl skipped over to it fondly, and brushed her fingers affectionately on the immaculate keys.

"Goodbye," she whispered, smiling once again, unearthing bottomless dimples, "I'll be back soon!"

And with that, she marched out of the door without a backward glance, and settled comfortably into a black luxury car. The taciturn chauffeur nodded at her, and began to close the door, only to look up, startled, as the suited woman, running quickly, cried, "Wait!"

The chauffeur obliged, and the woman, now red across the cheeks, puffed angrily and slid into the leather seat next the girl, who was pouting.

"Why are you coming, Mishi? I thought we agreed that you wouldn't come!" whined the girl, wiggling and pouting even more.

The woman, so called Mishi, bustled about, double-checking her purse for items that might've been forgotten. "Oh, hush you. I'm just coming to see you off. And might I remind you, without me there, you'd most likely be mobbed or trampled over, knowing how careless you are. Now do buckle up." She glared at the girl until she reluctantly pulled at the strap, grumbling under her breath. Mishi tactfully chose to ignore her. The car started smoothly, and the girl stared out the window, thinking and wondering about if going was a good idea after all.

"Did you hear?"

As Sirius Black weaved through the busy crowds of Platform 9 ¾, he couldn't help but hear the repeated murmurs of that question, which made him a very annoyed boy indeed. What was so important that everyone seemed to know, but him? Was he not the center of their attention?

Oh! Spotted! Quickly, the annoyance slipped from his mind as Sirius sighted an unruly mop of jet black hair, the signature look of his best mate. He grinned widely, his curiosity swept away at his excitement.

"Oi! Potter!" He shouted thunderously.

The people surrounding him looked up, started by the sudden noise, but went back to their gossiping a moment later, except for a gaggle of girls, who swooned at the sight of him. Smirking, Sirius turned back to his best friend, but not before he felt another stab of annoyance at how fast people went back to their gossip, which he shrugged off. James Potter, upon sighting the source of the yell, smiled boyishly and made his way rapidly through the throngs of people.

"There you are! Mum and I were wondering where you had gotten off to." James Potter casually mussed up his hair, causing that same gaggle of girls to giggle once more.

"Well, then you'll be interested to know that I had a _little_ run-in with our dear friend Snivellus." Sirius' eyes twinkled mischievously. James grinned.

"Excellent!"

They smirked again simultaneously, causing yet another round of giggles with the gaggle of girls. Sirius rolled his eyes. Really, once was understandable, twice was flattering, but thrice was just downright getting on his nerves. He looked at James, who was blissfully unaware of the disturbance his actions had brought, and who looked to be sweeping the crowd with his hazel eyes for a certain redhead. Sirius grinned evilly. Oh, to be so innocent…..

James frowned, distracted the repetitive murmuring of the excited students. "Is it just me, or is there some particularly juicy rumor going around?"

Sirius' smile slid of his face faster than a raindrop down a windowpane. "Seems so," he sighed, "dunno what could possibly be this important."

But James never heard the end of his sentence, as the whisperings took a dramatic crescendo and fingers were pointed toward the pillar where entrance to Platform 9 ¾ was made. Sirius and James turned toward the entrance, only to be greeted with the sight of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew running towards them. Rather, Peter was tripping over his feet while Remus made large strides across the floor.

"Haveyouheard?" Peter spouted excitedly, tripping over his words as clumsily as he did with his feet.

"Heard _what _Peter?" Sirius snapped, his patience running out.

"About a new student we have." Remus said, a hint of excitement in his voice. Sirius frowned and James looked mildly surprised. Remus was rarely ever excited about rumors or the such. James voiced Sirius' exact thoughts. Remus shook his head, amused.

"It's not a rumor. She's here."

"Who is?" asked James curiously.

"Ariane Johnson. Wizarding-world renowned pianist. She's the youngest to ever have this much success!" Remus was positively shivering with glee.

"Oh who gives a bloody crap?" Sirius couldn't believe that there was such a huge deal over what seemed to him a minuscule thing AND that he had wasted so thought on trying to find out what exactly was the big deal. And he was the one who was supposed to be captivating all the students...

"She's probably quite awkward and homely…." Sirius said, chortling. Remus' eyes twinkled and he said nothing, instead lifting his eyes toward the entrance. Sirius snorted, and looked to James to back him up, only to find that he was staring intently at the entrance as well with an interested look on his face. Peter, beside himself with anticipation, jumped and stood on his tippy toes to glimpse the girl over the heads of the crowd. Sirius shook his head, with the air of being the only intelligent one in a group of baboons. He had a bunch of softies for friends, apparently. He looked disdainfully toward the entrance, and his eyes widened comically while his mouth dropped. _Oh my Merlin. _What he saw wasn't a mousy little girl that he had expected, but a tall, slender, _pretty_ girl who was beaming at everyone, apparently unaware that she was being inspected like a zoo animal, her elegant ponytail swishing about with a life of its own. She looked around curiously, and caught Sirius' eye. She smiled cheerfully at him and winked. Sirius abruptly closed his mouth, and glanced quickly away, blushing. He heard her tinkling laugh through the buzzing of the crowd, like chimes in the wind. His embarrassment turned to indignation at being laughed at. Sirius Black was not to be laughed at, no sir! And so, with a ruffled pride, he vowed to himself that he could make this oh-so-great Ariane Johnson fall for his devilishly handsome looks and charming wit. He cockily laughed to himself. _Oh yes, this year will indeed be quite eventful... _

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There! It's a little tidbit of more to come if you guys like it! Review please! Oh and let me know if you guys prefer shorter chapters/faster updates, or longer chapters/slower updates.


	2. A Playful Fugue

Chapter Deux! Have fun!

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Ariane ran up the stairs nimbly two at a time as though being hotly pursued by demons from hell. She ran into her dormitory and breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door softly, but hurriedly, to her dormitory. She had been accosted all the way from the train station to Hogwarts, and even at the opening feast people were ogling at her and she could feel pointed fingers from every which way. _Honestly, _she thought, _what IS there to look at?_ She shivered with disgust. A few boys had even had the nerve to let their eyes roam over her body. She rolled her eyes.

_*Flashback*_

"...and we have a new student joining us this year. Please welcome Ariane Johnson!"Dumbledore clapped his pale withered hands as the rest of the school enthusiastically followed his lead.

Overwhelming cheers erupted from all the tables alike, something Hogwarts had rarely heard before as Slytherins were usual the odd ones out. But as Ariane was quite popular among the pureblooded parents of the Slytherins, it had transfered down to their children, although they were clapping with a stiff aristocratic air, while the Gryffindors pumped their hands together heartily. She saw at the Gryffindor table the handsome lad whom she had teasingly winked at, and she giggled. She found it quite adorable that he had been blushing.

Ariane returned her attention to the black tattered hat in front of her and she smiled happily. She walked up to the menacing stool from where she stood with the shaking first years, who were awed at the height of Ariane more than of her celebrity status. The ancient black hat, with a few patches here and there, sat on the wooden stool in a slouchy manner. She looked at it, hesitated for a brief moment, and then proceeded to plop the hat on top of her head. Her view of the school was entirely blacked out as the large hat slipped over her eyes and onto the bridge of her nose.

"Ahh, Ariane Johnson. I foresaw your coming you know."

_Really now? _thought Ariane sarcastically. _How extremely impressive of you. Must've been hard to tell when Dumbledore discussed it in his office, what with all the portraits.  
_

The hat hissed in annoyance. "Slight me no more, Ariane Johnson, or I will place you where you least desire to be."

Ariane snorted. _I have no desire to be or not be in any house. Put me where you will; I don't care the slightest. _As soon as she said these words, she wondered if she had spoken, or thought, too soon.

The sorting hat fell silent as it debated where to put her. And then, finally, it opened its mouth and shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ariane squealed with glee; however, even if anyone were only a foot away from her, they would not have been able to hear her at all, since the roars from the Gryffindor table were extremely ear-deafening. She tore off the Sorting Hat, ignoring its many complaints ("You should be thankful that I didn't put you in Slytherin....ungrateful wretch..."), and bounced over to the Gryffindor table where she seated herself next a redheaded girl, who smiled warmly at her. Sirius, sitting a few feet away, stiffened noticeably at her presence and glanced at her. She looked back at him, intending to do some more good-nature teasing, but was startled by the stormy grey color of his eyes. She lost herself in them for a few seconds, in which the Great Hall seemed to be void of people except for her and Sirius. Then Sirius looked away, a faint pink tinge in his cheeks and Ariane was surprised to feel a sudden warm rush in her cheeks. She'd never had that feeling before, and as Dumbledore continued his speech, she pondered. _What was it? That strange tingling feeling..._

_*_End Flashback*

Ariane leaned against the mahogany door, touching her cheek tenderly as though she's never felt it before. Then she shook her head suddenly. _Snap out of it, Ariane! _

A moment later, she felt a slight pressure against her back as someone attempted to open the door. Surprised, Ariane quickly stepped away from the door, and it opened to reveal the redheaded girl whom she had sat next to before.

"Ah, sorry--"

"Hello --"

They both stopped awkwardly, and then laughed.

"You go first." gestured Ariane.

The girl laughed. "Alrighty then. Hi, my name is Lily Evans, and I am one of your dorm mates!"

They shook hands, in a comically solemn manner, which was betrayed by their laughing eyes.

"Well hello Lily Evans," Ariane replied just as solemnly. "My name is Ariane Johnson."

Lily chuckled. "That's news to me."

They both giggled. Ariane took an immense liking to this girl, and was also envious of her gorgeous red mane and emerald eyes.

Ariane was brought out of her thoughts by a _Ahem _from the girl facing her. She looked at Lily questioningly, who grinned at her mischievously.

"What?" Ariane asked warily.

"I saw that you and Sirius had a rather...er....'intimate' connection at the feast." Lily winked at her.

Ariane immediately felt that warm sensation in her cheeks again, and she drew back defensively while blabbering in an abnormally high-pitched voice, "What? What? Sirius? Who? I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh well would you look at the time! It's Ariane's sleepy time. Nice meeting you, bye!"

Then she attempted to make her escape. _Attempted _being the key word. Lily, with an evil gleam with her eyes, reeled her back in.

"Oh no you don't!"

Ariane took one look at Lily's manic face, and screamed. "HELP MEEE!"

Sirius yawned. He was stuffed to the brim with the delicious food the feast had graciously bestowed on his belly. Roasted potatoes, glistening turkeys, lamb chops with a cherry glaze, golden corn accompanied by a perfect melting of butter, and an impressive array of pies. Cherry pies, apple pies, berry pies, pumpkin and pecan pies, chocolate pies, and many more. Sirius sighed contentedly. It felt good to be back...

His mind drifted away from visions of stuffed olives and came to a rest on a certain brown-eyed girl. He groaned. Sirius wanted to smack himself for thinking about Ariane Johnson so much. The eye contact had went on for too long. He had only intended to give her a taste of exactly what Sirius Black was made of, but he had lost himself in her deep chocolate eyes. He shook his head violently. No, it will not do to think about her like that!

He marched resolutely into the red and gold common room, and was immediately embraced by the warmth of the fire. His tensed muscles relaxed upon meeting the crackling fire's warmth, but then tensed up again upon hearing a shrill scream from the girls' dormitory. He rushed over to the bottom of the stair case and yelled, "What's the matter up there?"

The screams abruptly stopped, and Sirius' heart quickened as the sight of Ariane Johnson came into view. Her cheeks were crimson, her eyes bright and her breathing came out fast and uneven.

"Oh uhh, sorry, I saw a....." Ariane searched her mind furiously, thinking of what to say. "...a...a...SPIDER!" She finished triumphantly, then wilted pathetically when she realized exactly what she had said.

Sirius stood motionless, with an eyebrow cocked disbelievingly, which wasn't helped by the muffled giggles coming from beyond Ariane.

"A spider? Really?"

Ariane nodded her head estatically. "Yes, yes, a spider! A huge hairy spider!"

Sirius smirked, regaining his composure. "Would you like me to rescue you, damsel in distress, from this Big Scary Spider?"

Ariane turned even more red and she scowled. "Oh shush, you bigot. And I suppose you think you're my knight in shining armor?"

Sirius smiled suggestively. "Only if you want me to be. I expect a gracious reward though." He swept his eyes over her body, and looked up, only to be smacked by a rather large book.

"Oi!"

He rubbed his head angrily, and looked up, only to see Ariane's robe swish around the corner, her head held up haughtily. He scowled. _Wait a second. Since when did she have a book with her? _

Lily's grinning face came from around the corner, and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Serves you right for being a horny git." With that, she disappeared once more around corner. Sirius swore that he heard a high five from up there.

_Bloody Ariane Johnson._

_

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_There! A marvelous love/hate relationship, ain't it? XD Review s'il vous plaît!


	3. Rhapsody of the 1200's

Disclaimer: Yes I'm JKR. I'm writing a story on a fanfiction site of my own work. Yup. NOT.

"…and that was what happened in 1207. Now in 1208, things were about the same but not quite…"

Professor Binns was quite an ignorant man. Either that or he just didn't care. Half of the class had gone to sleep 5 minutes into class, their faces obscured by arms and desks. The other half was only conscious for the task of amusing themselves, ergo passing notes, doodling, or whispering the latest juicy gossip to each other under their breaths. ("The Halloween Ball's almost here! I hear Diggory's going to ask Ariane Johnson to go." "No way! I wanted to go with him..")

And then there was Lily. Scribbling away, her page was filled with neat, gorgeous cursive. Her eyes bored into Professor Binns, intent on every single word, totally oblivious to the set of hazel eyes boring into the back of HER head. James stared dreamily at Lily, lost in her face whenever she turned; how she bit her plump, pink lips, wrinkled her nose so adorably, and her long luscious lashes that went up and down, up and down…

"_Jamesie dearie, can you feed me another strawberry?" Her green eyes inquired innocently, her pink lips pouty. _

_James nodded so fast that his head was in danger of flinging off his neck altogether. He held a chocolate covered strawberry up to Lily's lips, hands quivering. Lily smiled delightfully, and bit into the strawberry, licking her lips. _

"_My goodness, it__'s delicious honeypoo…" _

_She gazed, doe eyed at James, and licked a chocolate stain off of James' finger. _

_"Oh Lilykins..."_

Thunk! A rather hard blow to his head brought James out of his reverie. Rubbing his head angrily, he turned to Sirius, who held the offending book in his hand.

"Oi, what the hell mate!"

Lily swerved around, her eyes narrowed. This Lily had no semblance to the Lilykins in his dreams, James noted sadly. She made a shushing motion, scowling fiercely, and turned promptly right around. Students all around the class room looked at James curiously. An embarrassed expression came on James face as he realized exactly how loud he was. He glanced at Professor Binns to see if he noticed.

"And so, 1208 was an extremely important year to all wizard kind, indeed. Now, in 1209…"

No surprise there.

A giggle came from in front of him. He looked up to see Ariane looking at him. She made tsk-tsk noise playfully, shaking her head in mock disappointment. He grinned sheepishly, and Ariane laughed quietly. Her eyes flitted to Sirius' face and she gave him a bright, megawatt smile. Sirius flushed, and looked away immediately, face tomato red. _Must not succumb. Must not succumb, _Sirius chanted to himself. Ariane raised her eyebrows cheekily and turned back to face the front. Sirius sighed, relieved, and turned to see James, who was looking at him rather pointedly.

"What?" Sirius whispered.

"I'm still waiting on an apology for that!" James gestured at the heavy volume in Sirius' hands. Sirius smirked.

"Oh, mate, I did you a favor. You were drooling all over the desk. Quite a pathetic sight, really. Can't have your Lily flower seeing you like that, right-o?"

James gaped at him. "Nuh uh! I was not!" He looked at Remus pleadingly, who nodded and chuckled.

"Tis true Prongs. I was almost tempted to take a photo too."

James sighed, defeated. Sirius clapped his back comfortingly.

"S'all right. We understand you. That's what mates are for: we put up with your stupidity."

His mouth already opened to readily protest, James stopped when he saw Sirius' eyes drifting to a certain girl who was doodling in her notebook, twirling a strand of raven hair between her fingers, clearly bored out of her mind.

James chuckled evilly. Oh sweet revenge. He picked up his History book and proceeded to whack Sirius with all the strength he could muster. Sirius yelped angrily.

"Bloody….!"

A parchment balled up into a ball came out of nowhere and smartly hit James on his cheek. He dropped his mouth open at Lily, who, if looks could kill, would have mutilated James to an unrecognizable state eons ago. However, this having failed to have an effect on James since, well, eons ago, he whined childishly, "It wasn't my fault! He did it! Hit him!"

Lily raised an eyebrow menacingly. "Do you really wanna go there Potter?"

Oh, and James was ready to do just that. He had a nice, long rebuttal in mind when his eyes fell upon the wand in Lily's lap, which was clenched in the hands of its owner, shooting out gold and red sparks. Memories of a past encounter with this stick of wood flooded his mind, and James closed his mouth immediately, giggling nervously. To say the least, that wand had almost lost James the potential to become a father. The annoyed redhead rolled her eyes and swiveled back to face the front once more. James, once sure that Lily was again freakishly concentrated on Professor Binns again, turned to whisper/yell at Sirius only to find that Sirius had not only swiftly recovered but was yet again staring at Arianne, expression tender, with his eyes void of their usual rougish gleam.

James sighed. Well, to each his own. He crossed his arms, propping his head on them, and resumed his daydream that involved chocolate, strawberries, and his dear Lily flower.

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"So, what did you think about Professor Binns' class? He's an alright teacher, isn't he?" Whenever Lily talked about anything academic, a glow came into her face. She tapped her foot, waiting for Ariane's answer expectantly.

Ariane hesitated. "Honestly?"

Lily nodded excitedly.

_Honestly, that hour could have been more productive observing different types of animal feces. _Ariane sighed inwardly. But there was no way she could let down a face like that. She smiled brightly and swung her arm, hand in a fist.

"It was the most exciting class I've ever been in! He's SUCH a good teacher! I didn't know that the 1300's were so eventful."

Ariane nodded, apparently immersed in the 1300's_._ Lily narrowed her eyes.

"The 1300's, eh?"

"Sure, sure! Those goblins sure are rowdy, aren't they?"

"Mmhmm. In the 1200's."

Ariane opened her mouth to agree absent mindedly, and then promptly closed her mouth.

"Oh. The 1200's eh?"

Lily shook her head, and threw her hand to her forehead dramatically.

"And here I was hoping another person would pay attention in class. Well, can't help a lost cause."

"Oi! A lost cause, am I?"

"Definitely. And a terrible liar too."

And on they went, bickering jokingly about Ariane's merits ("Well, I'm a world class pianist!" "A peeeeeee-anist?"), unaware of the two friends, whose eyes were glazed, looking after them longingly.

Remus sighed and turned to Peter.

"So totally whipped. So much for that plan, Sirius."

Sirius surfaced from his trance at the sound of his name.

"Excuse me? What plan?"

"The I'm-So-Highty-Mightly-I-Can-Make-Ariane-Johnson-Fall-In-Love-With-Me-Plan. Looks like its backfired anyhow." Remus' eyes glinted.

Sirius spluttered indignantly.

"Backfired? On what? Me? HAHA. Oh you're a joker, Moony, you!" He turned around snobbishly and proceeded to trip on flat ground, arms flailing, catching himself just in time. Remus raised his eyebrows skeptically. Sirius held a single finger up.

"NOT a word."

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Sorry I haven't updated in so long! There really is no excuse, so I'll just try to update more from now on. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feedback welcome(:


	4. The Ink Ballade

Disclaimer: I wish I were JKR. 'Nuff said.

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Ariane's eyes were closed, yet she was anything but unconscious. On quite the contrary, she was brimming with life. Her head swayed back and forth, her fingers dancing a romantic ballade. Her whole body was one with the music that came flowing out through her strong fingers and onto the lustrous white and black keys of the 9 foot Steinway. She lived and breathed through the piano.

A rich melody sang from the instrument. It was heart-wrenching and beautiful, charming and playful. It provokes smiles that quickly flee away accompanied by tears. Thus was the 3rd Chopin Ballade, performed by the lithe girl in red, the one and only Ariane Johnson.

As Ariane neared the end of the piece, the sad minor twisted unexpectedly to an encouraging major, and grew and grew, an expanding bubble of hope. Then, preceded by crescendo-ing chords, she hit the final chord triumphantly and let her hands jump off the piano. A silence ringed tremendously through the vast auditorium, and then it was chased away by roaring applause.

Ariane let her hands fall into her lap. She stood up, put a hand on the piano's side and bowed deeply. Roses littered the stage she stood on. The applause continued for 5 minutes straight. Ariane smiled modestly and bowed yet again, then strolled off the stage.

Mishi was there to greet her with a proud smile and a bouquet of yellow daffodils. Her usual impeccable business suit was gone, replaced by a knee-length black dress that hugged her figure. However, Ariane had yet to see a moment where the magical headset around Mishi's blonde hair was absent.

"Good job, you! Here, these flowers are from your Mom. She's sorry that she couldn't make it; she had a big business meeting, but she sends her love."

Daffodils. Ariane smiled sadly. She wished she could say that daffodils were her favorite flowers, but the idea that her mother had spent enough time with her to know what her favorite flowers were was laughable. Oh well. At least she cared enough to send flowers, right?

"Now, Pippa wants to have a steady lesson date soon. She's arranged with Dumbledore to come up to Hogwarts once a week. Which day would you prefer, Tuesday or Friday? And Mrs. Davies, Malfoy, Black, and Clearwater all want to have lunch with you; they were quite insistent even though I told them that you prefer not to have your career mixed in with your personal life—"

"Mishi, Mishi! Slow down! I can barely hear myself think as it is." Ariane sighed and rubbed her temples. She was ever so tired…

"Wait."

Mishi looked at her inquiringly. "What is it?"

"Mrs. Black?"

"What? Oh yes, she's one of the women who want to have lunch with you."

"Does she happen to have a son called Sirius?" Ariane tried suppressed the rush of red in her cheeks as she thought of said son.

Mishi looked confused. "How did you know?"

"Oh, just a bloke I met at school...anyways I'm much too tired right now. Can you just take me back to Hogwarts?"

"But you haven't even greeted anyone!" Mishi surveyed Ariane sternly, discipline in her eye.

"I know, I know, Mishi, but I feel like I'm going to pass out any moment now. Pretty please with a cherry on top? Or a meal at Sparta's?" Ariane pouted her lips, with an impish glint in her chocolate brown eyes. Mishi brightened at those last few words, and then quickly recovered to her lecturing pose. She pursed her lips together and sighed.

"Oh, all right! Bribing me with meals…what do you take me for? Hmph." Mishi tossed her head to the side. Ariane raised her eyebrows.

"No to Sparta's? That's surprising…but fine with me." With that she winked and flounced away to the waiting black luxury car, with Mishi staring open mouthed after her, hand held up weakly.

"Oh, that girl…" Mishi marched after her heatedly, intent on getting her Italian meal.

* * *

Sirius didn't know what happened. One minute he was joking around with the rest of the Marauders, "studying", and the next he woke up to an empty common room and a half-hearted fire. He yawned and stretched his legs. He must've drifted off when Peter started nervously babbling about his Transfiguration essay. That boy needed to learn how to calm down. Once, Bellatrix had merely sent a glare his way, and he had been reduced to a shaking, jittering mess. Sirius snorted. Not that it was entirely Pete's fault anyhow. That cow was pure evil, down to her rotten core, and it would hurt anyone to look at her.

One glance at his watch told Sirius that it was almost one in the morning. He swore soundly. That only left him 5 hours or less for his dear companion, Sleep. That early into the school year too, he thought sadly. Oh well, he needed to train himself to work on less sleep anyways. Sirius smirked. He planned to have plenty of, oh, "fun" activities at night in the future…

The portrait of the Fat Lady opened, and someone crawled in. Sirius tensed. Who could be up so late at night? Well, except for him and the Marauders anyways. The clack of a heel hitting the ground alerted Sirius to the gender of the intruder. He grinned. Or, he could always start the activities tonight.

The girl took off her heels and stepped into the dying glow of the crackling fire and Sirius choked. To call Ariane Johnson at that moment attractive would be an offensive understatement.

She was wearing a crimson dress which left her shoulders and back bare and teased Sirius with extremely slight cleavage. It gave her an ethereal aura, which quite took Sirius' breath away. He gaped for a moment longer and then shook himself out of this trance. He gulped deeply and glanced at her again. She did not appear to have noticed him, although she was glancing around the common room for signs of life.

The common room appeared void of anyone excepting her. Ariane tiptoed towards the nearest chair and sank into it, sighing with pleasure. She closed her eyes, and smiled, burrowing herself deeper into the soft, cushy chair, drifting off slowly….almost…to sleep…

"Alright there, Johnson?"

Ariane jumped at the sound of the deep, amused voice. She whipped around to be greeted by the sight of a grinning Sirius Black, sitting in the corner shrouded by shadows. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Why, why, did he have to be _so _handsome? Someone clearly used favoritism up there. She cleared her voice and furrowed her brows.

"What are you doing up?"

Sirius waved her question away. "That's not important. The better question is what were _you _doing out so late? Nothing dirty I hope?"

Ariane narrowed her eyes. "Of course. I was snogging Snape senseless in his bedroom."

Sirius' mouth dropped. Ariane rolled her eyes.

"No, you dimwit, I had a concert."

Sirius snapped his mouth close. "Until...1 in the morning?"

"I came back and practiced some more. What about it?"

Sirius' expression turned to one of curiosity. "Where do you go to practice? I wasn't aware that Hogwarts houses instruments, least of all a piano."

"Why do you care?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, because I know every single corner of Hogwarts, including _every _single broom closet, and I've never seen the slightest sign of a piano." He winked roguishly.

Ariane blushed at the mention of broom closets, but she shook her head and sat back down in her chair. "Well, that's for me to know and you to find out."

"Believe me…I will."

While Ariane was talking, Sirius had walked up so he was right behind her, in the dying light of the fire, and had whispered hotly into her ear. Ariane jumped out of her chair and looked at Sirius warily, and then her expression changed. Sirius looked down on his fingernails, examining them.

"You know…I'm not so bad on the piano myself. We could play some duets, couldn't we? We'd make a ravishing couple, don't you agree, Miss Ariane?" He looked up at Ariane with what he thought was a sexy, smoldering face. Ariane's lip twitched, and then she burst out in laughter.

"Yeah…UH HUH….maybe when you get that crap off your face so people can actually listen, you know, instead of laugh at us when we play this RAVISHING duet..." She said between giggles. Clutching her stomach, she made her way up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, laughing uncontrollably.

Well.

Sirius was astonished. No, not astonished, _terrified_. He had never gotten THAT type of a response before. He stood there, shocked. What went wrong? His forehead wrinkled, he thought furiously. He had been working with Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail when he went to sleep, so…he tapped his face thoughtfully. His finger came off his face, blackened. Wait, blackened? Ink? His eyes widened.

Sirius gasped.

"MY FACE!" he shrieked girlishly.

He slapped his palms to his face and charged up the stairs, crashing into the walls, overlooking the fact that Ariane stood crouched in the shadow on the steps, crying with silent laughter.

And, indeed, the sight of a bespectacled, mustached, goateed, and rouged Sirius Black was one to laugh at. Especially when said person was attempting a seductive look, launching the word, "failure", to a whole new extreme.

* * *

A/N: (This is a lengthy one!) First of all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

For those of you who are interested, a link to a picture of Ariane's dress is on my profile.

Also, I will put up a link to Chopin's 3rd Ballade, which I am currently playing too. I've been playing piano for well over ten years and this is one of my favorite pieces ever. If any of you have questions about piano I'd be happy to answer them too.

Also, I've been wondering, would you guys like me to post longer chapters, and update slower or shorter chapters and update faster? And when I say shorter, I mean 1,000 words or less. Let me know! And as always, feedback welcome. Thanks!


	5. A Fluffy Sonatina

Thanks for those lovely reviews! They make me happy like no other(: Here's my longest chapter yet! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Must I make one of these for every chappie? I'm not JKR. Doh.

* * *

The next morning, the sun rose, greeted by the lush world and chirping birds. Underneath laid the majestic castle that was Hogwarts, amidst the green trees and grass. The sun stretched its rays through the windows of the Great Hall, accompanied by a fluttering of owls delivering mail, and fell upon the sight of four long tables groaning under the weight of delicious breakfast foods.

Ariane Johnson stood next to one of these long tables, and stared wide eyed at the breakfast table. Lily, standing next to her, regarded her with an expression akin with an expression one might have facing a vicious, growling dog.

Ariane had been in a frighteningly good mood this morning, ever since she jumped onto Lily's bed singing, "Wake up, wake up, everybody do their share, wake up, wake up…" She had ignored Lily's inquiries ("How come you got in so late last night?"), and proceeded to jump around the room cheerfully, practically bouncing off the walls, giving Dorcas Meadows a heart attack when she woke up blearily to the sight of huge brown eyes staring interestedly at her. Ariane had endured Dorcas' shrieking agreeably as well, and then dragged Lily with her down to the Great Hall. Now, she stood, lifeless, all signs of the hyper girl before gone in the instant she set her eyes on the table.

Lily poked Ariane cautiously, and breathed a sigh of relief when that didn't provoke a manic response. She nudged Ariane carefully all the same. "What is it?" she asked Ariane.

Ariane had only one word for her.

"P-PA-PANCAKES!"

One word, four syllables, expressed in a decibel suited only for dogs. Lily winced.

Let us elaborate. If there were a pancake god, Ariane would no doubt be his or her most devoted worshipper. She plopped down instantly on the bench and greedily helped herself to four pancakes, sprinkled strawberry slices generously over them, and spooned huge dollops of whipped cream over the lot. She finished this concoction with a drizzle of maple syrup and sawed away at the finished product for her first bite. All signs of the graceful girl from the night before vanished in a wink as she wolfed down the contents with renewed vigor.

Lily watched, amused, as Ariane sighed happily, coming up for air in between mouthfuls, munching away. She was like a little kid on Christmas digging into a pile of presents. Lily sat down next to her and helped herself to a blueberry muffin. She cleared her throat.

"So…you've heard about the upcoming Halloween Ball, right?"

Two curious orbs emerged long enough from the pancakes before them to look at Lily. Unable to say anything due to the bursting nature of her mouth, Ariane shook her head.

"I didn't think so. It's a costume ball, and it's quite fun actually. We hire professional music, caterers and everything."

Ariane bobbed her head noncommittally, attention rapidly ebbing away as more important matters took place, namely devouring the pancakes in front of her as fast as possible.

"Well, just thought you should know. That's probably why those guys are coming here right now."

Ariane choked, coughing. She swiped a glass of orange juice and took a huge gulp, and slammed it down on the table as she turned to look at Lily incredulously.

"What?"

Lily simply smiled knowingly. Ariane growled, annoyed.

She peered over her shoulder furtively. It was true. 3 guys where headed her way, one with flowers, one with chocolates, and one with….a stuffed unicorn?

"Oh, bollocks." Ariane looked around wildly, searching for a nonexistent escape path. "Why didn't you tell me they were coming?" she hissed at Lily.

"Oh, I tried. Besides, I'm kind of interested to see how this plays out. Breakfast was quite boring with you involved in your pancakes and all." She grinned.

Ariane stuttered. "You…you…I disown you!"

Lily sniggered. "From what?"

But Lily was not to receive an answer, for Ariane, in the last moment of desperation, slipped under the table clumsily. Lily raised her eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, THAT'S going to work."

A shushing sound came from under the table. Just as well, as the boy with the flowers approached the table.

"Hey Lily," The boy looked around bemusedly. "Have you seen Ariane Johnson? I swear she was just here."

"Oh she's under the table." Lily replied cheerfully.

The boy looked confused, and he bent down to look under the table. "Ariane?"

A few moments of silence came, as Ariane had a heated debate with herself about what to do. Admitting defeat, she sighed, and popped out from under the table.

"FOUND IT!"

Ariane pretended to hold something in her hand and she plopped down onto the wooden bench.

"Whew, I thought I would never find my uh…ring…" Ariane looked guiltily around, then down on her wrist. She laughed, voice high-pitched. "Oh well golly, look at the time. I have to run!"

"Um, excuse me, Ariane?"

Ariane glanced at the boy, displaying mock surprise. He had brown hair and hazel eyes, and was pretty well built. _Quidditch, _she noted. He was a chaser on the Hufflepuff team. Chickory was his name, maybe? Hickory? Hickory nuts? She sighed inwardly, escape plan thwarted, and she settled for a sweet smile, unearthing her dimples.

"Yes, that's me. What's up?"

He straightened up and smiled a crooked smile. "I was wondering if you would do me the favor of accompanying me to the Halloween Ball?" He held out the flowers. Ariane looked at the flowers. Daffodils. Yellow daffodils. No doubt he had read another stupid fan article on her that cited yellow daffodils as her favorite flowers.

Ariane bit her lip and hesitated. "I'm sorry, I haven't decided if I'm going to go yet. I might have a concert that day."

She flushed, aware that that was the lamest excuse she could possibly come up with. She looked at the boy apologetically.

The boy waved off the rejection easily. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Here, take these flowers anyway. I heard they were your favorite."

No they aren't, sang Ariane's conscience, but she accepted them graciously anyhow.

"And let me know if you reconsider."

Ariane looked at the boy, startled. He winked boyishly at her, and then walked away. Lily waited a few seconds and then spoke.

"Really?"

Lily looked at Ariane, amused. "A piano concert?"

Ariane scowled. "It was all I could think of! Don't judge me."

Lily chuckled. "Did you even know his name?"

Ariane swelled up, like a balloon. "Of course I do! It's….his name…is…is…WELL it's got something to do with hickory nuts!"

Lily stared at the girl before disbelievingly. "Hickory nuts? His name is Diggory! Amos Diggory! Oh Merlin, you're unbelievable…half the girls in this school would kill to go with him, you know." And indeed, looking around the hall, Ariane saw several zealous girls glaring at her jealously.

"Huh."

Lily opened her mouth, but only to be interrupted the second boy who reached them.

* * *

The second and third went on in the same manner. Ariane was left with the chocolates and the unicorn, the former of which she gave to an unfortunate first year who she accidentally tripped over getting up from the bench, and the second she kept, because, well…

"IT'S SO FLUUUUFFLY!" Ariane bellowed, brandishing the unicorn at some poor, unsuspecting first years who jumped and inched away from her, staring at her with raw fear in their eyes.

Lily shook her head, and then stopped, smiling. She seemed to be doing a lot of that ever since Ariane arrived. She looked at Ariane, who was bubbling with happiness, and grinned. This year was definitely going to be a good one.

Ariane flourished the unicorn in Lily's face and exclaimed, "It's so cute I'm gonna die!"

Lily snatched the unicorn from Ariane's fingers and examined it thoughtfully. "It IS pretty cute. In fact," a wicked grin came upon her face, "I think I'll keep it. See you later!"

Ariane stared at Lily, horrified, as Lily skipped away, laughing evilly. Ariane saw, as if in slow motion, the unicorn's head flopping up and down, as though crying for help.

"MY UNICORN!"

And that was the sight James, Remus, and Peter were greeted with as they rounded the corner on their way to what they thought would be an ordinary breakfast. They stopped abruptly and ogled at the sight of Lily running madly, a unicorn clutched in her hands, with an evil grin on her face, a face that James was quite familiar with. They continued to stare, dumbfounded, at the sight of Ariane running after her, crying foul. She slowed at the sight of them.

"Oh, hey guys!" She scrutinized them and recognized their number. "Where's your better...er...fourth?"

Remus, the only capable of speech, replied, "Oh, he's still upstairs. He was quite mad when we woke him up this morning…told us to, what was it? Piss off?" He asked James nonchalantly.

James started, and said indignantly, "At least he didn't spray YOU with ink! Took me forever to get that stuff out of my hair."

Remus shrugged. "Guess he's still mad from yesterday. I dunno, he's usually fine with stuff like that. We drew on his face when he fell asleep studying with us yesterday," he explained to Ariane.

Ariane fought to keep the smile off her face. "Ah, sorry to hear that. Well gotta run. I've got a sneaky redhead to catch!" And with that, she jogged off after Lily.

James looked wonderingly after her and then turned to the Great Hall.

"Women." He muttered. Peter nodded wildly with consent.

* * *

Sirius Black was not having a good morning. He dragged himself out of bed half an hour after James, Remus, and Peter left and discovered that he had gotten his books soaked with the ink he sprayed James with. He growled, annoyed, and threw them in his book bag all the same. He would deal with it after he's had his pancakes.

He shouldered his book bag grumpily, rumbling down the stairs, and slipped out the common room. As he started out for the Great Hall, he stopped short at the sight of Ariane and his heart skipped two beats, although she didn't seem to be in a favorable mood at the moment. She was scowling madly at a blonde haired boy, who was smiling in return. He was dressed casually, but in all fine clothing. Definitely not a student of the school. He took Ariane's hand, and in one fluid movement, touched it gently to his lips. Sirius' expression darkened. Who the hell was this little bugger? Sirius noted in satisfaction that Ariane seemed to be of the same mind. She snatched her hand out of his grip as though burned by fire and hissed something out the boy. He brushed off the action easily, though his icy blue eyes darkened slightly for a second. He said something to her, and then closed in to kiss her cheek. Ariane stared away from him, adamantly avoiding his face. The boy sighed, giving up, and walked away.

Sirius thought it was time for him to make his entrance. He cleared his throat, and Ariane turned, startled, to face Sirius. He emerged from the shadows, walking towards her.

"So, who the ruddy hell was that? Your boyfriend?"

Ariane shook her head. "Of course not."

"Really? You two seemed pretty cozy to me."

Ariane narrowed his eyes at Sirius. "What's the matter, Black? Jealous?"

That was probably the wrong thing to say, which Ariane realized a second later, as Sirius suddenly pushed her against the wall, and whispered, "What if I am?" His warm lips brushed her ears, and Ariane shivered. His arms were above her, on the wall, and he stared intently at her.

Ariane couldn't stop herself from looking into his stormy grey eyes, which were so enigmatic to her, so full of an emotion she couldn't distinguish. They gazed at each other, and for a few seconds all was silent except for the sound of their heavy breaths. And then Sirius started to close the distance between them, coming closer and closer. Ariane's eyes softened, and she closed them, anticipating what was coming. Sirius hesitated, looking at the petite, delicate girl beneath him, and then…

"There you are!"

Ariane's eyes flew open, and her right hand came up, slapping Sirius across his face. Sirius stumbled back, swearing like a pirate, and fell to the ground. Lily's amused face came into Ariane's vision.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Lily came over, stepping across Sirius, and linked arms with Ariane, whose face was as red as the Hogwarts Express.

"I have to talk to YOU about something, missy."

And without further ado, Lily marched Ariane away, back into the common room, with Sirius gaping after them, hand held up to his face.

_What just happened?_

Yay! Chapter 5! Hope you enjoyed it(: And if you have not seen it, the fluffy unicorn refers to Despicable Me, which is such a freaking cute movie! Ahhhh! Anyways, review please!


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